benefit cosmetics Archives - Curiously Carmen

I haven’t done a makeup review for awhile now, eh? Currently, most of my days have been spent at school or studying at home, where I don’t even bother wearing makeup anymore. But I have missed writing about makeup so I decided to quickly put some on and write this post as a study break.

The Too Faced 3 way lash lining tool is not like your typical liquid eyeliner, as you’ll find out below. This eyeliner came in the Sephora “glitz and glam bag” set that my cousin gave me during Christmas. It sells for around $28 CA by itself. I’m not sure if the one I have is the full size, since the gift basket did come with a few sample products.
I used my pen just to show the size comparison. I really like the branding and packaging of Too Faced products, especially the type of writing style they gave.

Anyways, the first few times I used this product, I was very confused because I’ve never seen anything like it before. In contrast to a normal liquid eyeliner brush with one tip, this brush has a triple tip.
The triple tip brush serves a couple of purposes. Firstly, it allows you to “dot” your eyeliner across the root of your lash line, making your lashes look fuller. I suppose you can do this with a normal tip eyeliner brush (my L’oreal one seen on the right), but it would take longer, and the normal brush tip might be looser/softer or thicker, which will give away the illusion of your “natural” thick eye lashes.

Secondly, the triple tip allows you to tight line better. I find that since the tip brush is flatter, as opposed to the rounder ones, you have an easier time when tight lining your eyes. Thirdly, it claims to give you an easier cat eye and winged look, but I don’t really see much difference in that arena.

Here, since I suck at explaining, I took a picture.
As I mentioned above, notice how the brush tip is parallel to my eye lid. To achieve a nice, smooth, and even line, make sure that your brush is parallel to your lid. For normal eyeliners, it doesn’t really matter which way you angle your brush, but for this one, it matters! 🙂
The brush tip in this picture is not parallel to my eyelid. So, when I draw the line, you will see the three dots of the eyeliner vertically which is what you do not want! It will also be harder for you to wing your eyeliner if you hold the pen this way. Also, if you’re wondering, I am wearing this Too Faced eyeliner in the two pictures.

Pros:
-Easy to create a natural looking and full lash line without the appearance of eyeliner
-Easy to tight line due to the flatness and width of the brush
-Goes on smooth and longlasting

Cons:
-Will take a bit of time to adjust, and find the right angle
-The angle of the brush matters when applying, unlike other eyeliners
-If you are not a fan of tight lining your eyeliner, stick with other products
-Expensive

Would I recommend this product? For $28, I would not suggest buying this product if you do not like the natural “no makeup, makeup” look. It’s a good eyeliner if you want it to look natural. If you like your eyeliner dramatic and noticeable, you’re better off buying other liners with a better value.

I would not use this eyeliner for a fancy, dress up event because it’s very subtle. Yes, I can create dramatic eye looks with this as well, but since the purpose is to create a natural looking full lash, what is the point of spending $28 when I can do the same thing with a brush that costs less and is thicker? I hope you enjoyed the review and found it helpful!

-Carmen

I have been quite busy with school this past week so I haven’t been able to post much. I finally finished my last midterm today before reading break so I’ll be posting more frequently this next week, so stay tuned! Today, I will be reviewing Benefit’s They’re Real! Mascara.

Background: Even though I love makeup, I would say mascara is the one makeup product that I do not really invest in. I hardly wear mascara unless I am going to a fancy event. I wish I was like every other girl who lives on mascara…but sadly, I do not. I much rather prefer eyeliner if I had to choose just one product.

Anyways, let’s move on. I received this product as a present from my cousin last month. It was a part of Benefit’s Matthew Williamson: The Rich is Back make up kit. Since I’m not a mascara girl, I was not really expecting much, but WOW, this product really blew me away (and for good reasons too)!

Packaging: I am a really big fan of Benefit’s unique packaging, and it is one of the things that has always intrigued me. This is the set that it came with, notice all the details put into the packaging of the kit. The packaging of the mascara itself is really pretty as the salmony/orange/pink colour contrasts well with the otherwise monotone grey.

cute packaging of the makeup kit

Wand: This mascara comes with a rubber brush. There are also bristles on the top end of the brush, making it easy to apply mascara vertically for those super short lashes at the corners of your eyes. The bristles also come in varying lengths, so that probably helps lengthen the look of your lashes as well.

close-up of the mascara wand

Application: I really do not like applying mascara. I’ve tried so many different brands which all just clump or don’t even look like I applied it. However, I noticed that this one is really easy and smooth to apply which I really liked. In total, I applied two coats (about as many as I apply before I get frustrated with mascara) with no clumps.

There was no negative impact after using my eyelash curler as well, sometimes curling your lashes can ruin the look of your mascara (Or maybe I’m the only one with bad mascara luck!) I could tell that this mascara is friendly to layering since it does not dry instantly (which is good, because if it dries instantly and you try to layer another coat, it will clump >:( ).

Outcome: Here is the best part! After I finished applying all my eye makeup, I had a bit of time to kill before I had to leave my house, so I decided to take some pictures of it. When I looked at the pictures, I was SHOCKED seeing my eyelashes.

I had to do a double take and think if I was really false eyelashes, because I’ve never seen my own lashes look that long before. This mascara truly does make your own eyelashes look as if they’re falsies which I loved. It also still looks completely natural!

Cons: This mascara is pricey compared to drug store brands. Other than that, I don’t really have anything to complain about. Some reviews online mentioned that it was unfortunate how they didn’t carry a waterproof version of this, but I hate waterproof mascara because it’s so hard to remove.

Conclusion: In my opinion, this mascara really does make your own eyelashes look like falsies. You really have to do a double take and think “they’re real!” so I now understand the meaning behind their name. The wand is great because there are bristles on the top, which make it easier to accentuate shorter lashes that would otherwise go unnoticed. I would highly recommend trying Benefit’s- They’re Real! mascara!

two coats of benefit’s they’re real! mascara, (also pictured- naked 3 palette, kat von d tattoo liner)

Thank you for reading!

-Carmen

Too Faced 3 Way Lash Lining Tool

Benefit – They’re Real! Mascara Review